The SEC’s own Investor-as-Owner Subcommittee of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee does not approve of the proposed rule on proxy advisory firms and proxy proposals. An excerpt: The IAC has long urged the Commission to address a variety of problems in the proxy system, and there are valuable elements in the PA/SP actions, such as…
Category: proxy advisory firms
Economists Comment to SEC Proposal on Proxy Advisors
On January 15, a group of over 60 leading finance professors from major American universities filed the following comment to the SEC to ask a revision of the proposed draft regulation: Dear Chairman Clayton and Members of the Commission: We share the Commission’s concerns about concentration in the proxy advisory market. Yet, we disagree with…
Nell Minow Debates Proposed SEC Rules on Proxy Advisors
On January 13, 2020, at the Stigler Center for the Study of Economy and the State, VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow debated University of Chicago professor Steven Kaplan on the new SEC proposed rules on proxy advisory firms, moderated by Luigi Zingales.
Republican Operative Holly Turner Posts Appallingly Deceptive Video in Support of Anti-Shareholder Proposal from the SEC
Republican operative and former Trump administration official Holly Turner has posted a fraudulent video on YouTube urging her followers to support the proposed rulemaking at the SEC to undermine the fundamental market principles of capitalism and suppress shareholder votes and access to independent research. The disappearance of the fake CEO-funded dark money front group…
Michael Hiltzik: The SEC tries to stifle shareholder voices – Los Angeles Times
We were very glad to see this column from one of our favorite journalists, and got a special kick out of learning that the fake dark money front group we exposed has shut down its website (though its virulent initiatives continue, just offline now). For all the lip service that corporate executives pay to the…
Do Corporate Governance Ratings Change Investor Expectations? Evidence from Announcements by Institutional Shareholder Services
We find that rating downgrades by ISS cause negative announcement returns of –1.14%. Thus, rating information is highly relevant for financial markets. We examine whether the information content reflects the underlying corporate governance quality of the firm. We find that announcement returns are lower for downgraded firms with higher potential agency costs. Since the cost…
SEC Comment on Proxy Advisors and Proposals from Minerva Analytics
Minerva Analytics has submitted a comment on the SEC’s proposed rules on proxy advisors and shareholder proposals. An except (footnotes omitted): In respect of the SEC’s proposals, our reasons for opposing the proposed regulations that they will: • Severely limit shareholders’ property rights; • Interfere with investors’ commercial and contractual rights to receive research, which…
Green America’s Sample Letter to the SEC: Protect Investor Rights that Support People & the Planet
To: Vanessa Countryman, Secretary Securities & Exchange Commission 100 F St., NE Washington, DC 20549 Re: File Number S7-23-19 We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the need to build an economy that will be successful over the long term. This means we need to ensure that social, environmental, and corporate governance issues facing corporations…
SEC Proxy Rulemaking: Insightful Comment with Compelling Data from Tom Shaffner
One of the most compelling and persuasively documented comments we have seen on the SEC’s proposed rule on proxy advisory firms and proxy proposals comes from an individual investor and data scientist named Tom Shaffner. We highly recommend reading the comment in full at the link below. Some highlights (footnotes omitted): The more I’ve learned…
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow to Appear at the U of Chicago to Discuss the SEC’s New Proxy Proposal
The US corporate governance landscape is in flux. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules for proxy filing and advising, in an effort to “improve accuracy and transparency of proxy voting advice.” The proposals are open to public consultation until early February 2020. The proposed amendments have won plaudits from business…
